What are the most pressing issues facing the sector today?

Kris Campbell, CIHT's Young Professional of the Year 2019 and works for Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure:

“Climate change and the drive to net zero, the impacts of Covid-19 on society, the economy and Brexit are among our major challenges. We also need to expand active and inclusive transport, embrace diversity in all its forms and look at longer term goals, not just short term gains.”

Alex Thomas, CIHT South West’s chair of its Exeter emerging professionals group and Devon County Council:

“Simply the pace of change which is required across all aspects of transportation over the next 10 to 30 years if we are to address the major challenges facing the sector and society at large.”

Anna Craciun, CIHT North West’s young professionals committee chair and she works for Humanising Autonomy:

“Traditional procurement processes are slowing down the uptake of innovative products that could provide more sustainable solutions.”

What are the most important skills that professionals will need moving forwards?

Alex: “The future will demand new ways of thinking and working. It needs a balance of creative and critical minds but also a realisation that strong communication, marketing and engagement skills can be just as important as data analysis, coding and modelling when it comes to enabling change.”

Anna: “In a new era of more remote working, communication and collaboration skills need to be mastered to identify best practice solutions.”

Kris: “Adaptability and ingenuity will be vital. If Covid has done one thing it has been to show that fundamental step changes can happen and quickly without  warning. Pandora’s box has been opened with regards to working from home and it is unlikely to significantly revert back to the way it was in future.”

What key contributions can young professionals make in shaping the future of transportation?

Anna: “I think young professionals need to ensure their voices are heard and that they continuously challenge tradition and create pathways to cross sectoral innovation.”

Kris: “The idea of having a fresh pair of eyes looking at a problem or piece of work can be valuable; young professionals may ask those seemingly simple questions that make you think about the problem again from a different perspective.”

Alex: “Young professionals’ education and upbringing will have been moulded to some extent by the climate change crisis. They will have the opportunity to be bold and challenge the status quo as they progress through their careers. It’s no longer a case of ‘predict and provide’ but rather ‘predict and prevent’.”

This article orginally appeared as part of the Learning and Development Guide in the October edition of Transportation Professional, CIHT's magazine - to view the article in full and the rest  of the issue, please see here